Online Gambling and Nanny-Statism
I have a problem with the government.
It has a seeming neverending desire to legislate and regulate. Lately it is "pioneering" global efforts to regulate online gambling.
But who is this to protect? The poor people on BBC World Service radio and BBC One this morning? (Did the sarcastic sympathy in the word "poor" come across?)
I am afraid that while I accept gambling addiction is an illness and that people cannot help themselves, they can actually get help. By removing people's freedom to protect people from themselves the state is assuming the role of parent. If you want to gamble £20,000 of money you don't have (via a credit card) on a website then whose problem is that?
Actually, the answer to that question is likely to be "Visa's" or "Mastercard's". The state should allow people to go about their lives as foolishly as they like so long as they don't hurt anyone else.
It has a seeming neverending desire to legislate and regulate. Lately it is "pioneering" global efforts to regulate online gambling.
But who is this to protect? The poor people on BBC World Service radio and BBC One this morning? (Did the sarcastic sympathy in the word "poor" come across?)
I am afraid that while I accept gambling addiction is an illness and that people cannot help themselves, they can actually get help. By removing people's freedom to protect people from themselves the state is assuming the role of parent. If you want to gamble £20,000 of money you don't have (via a credit card) on a website then whose problem is that?
Actually, the answer to that question is likely to be "Visa's" or "Mastercard's". The state should allow people to go about their lives as foolishly as they like so long as they don't hurt anyone else.